The End Continued
by andie000
Summary: During and after Prom, strange things begin to happen, with Billy and Mandy at the center, of course. Detestable content such as butlers, idiots, stars, drool, blood, adult humor, zombies, and BillyXMandy just may make an appearance....
1. Of The Odd Events That Followed Prom

**AN: Sooo. I told people I wasn't going to do a sequel. Here that sequel is, fresh squeezed from my weird mind, and just begging to be read. If you haven't read Going Soft, my first story, do so before reading this one.**

"No, Billy."

"Why?"

Mandy leaned up against a table. The linings of her elbow-length gloves made her arms itch, and her grand prom dress was a little too tight in the chest. "Because I said so," she snapped.

"Aw, don't be cantankerousous, Mandy!" Billy leapt to her side, nearly upsetting the table. He gestured wildly. "Lookit the lights! Lookit the nifty decorations! Lookit the music!"

Mandy didn't reply. Suddenly she was feeling very tired.

"Are you sure you don't wanna dance? Are you _sure_?"

"Yes, I'm sure," she deadpanned. The prom was lovely, she admitted to herself. Too bad she didn't place value in beauty. True, she was done-up for tonight, but her version of "doing up" was to remember to use Chapstik. In fact, Billy had been more eager to shop for a dress with her than she had.

"Try this one on, Mandy! Try this one on!"

Billy threw the garment over the changing room door. It landed on Mandy's head, and inside the little cubicle, she glared at it. "What the heck is this?" she snapped. "It looks like some sort of... black... tapestry or something. Is that lace I see? Billy, you know I don't wear lace." As she spoke, she hurriedly stepped into the dress and zipped the back up, wanting to get out of it as soon as possible. She glared at the mirror. The bust squeezed her chest out and up, showing off a huge amount of cleavage.

"Can I see?"

"No!" Mandy spat back at the door. Fuming, she stepped out of the dress, and threw it back over the door. "Bring me a different one!"

A few seconds later- "Here ya goes Mandy! I hope you like it!"

Another dress was thrown to her. This time, she caught it, and looked at it carefully. White. Silk on a floor-length skirt, and satin on a simple bodice. "You know I'm not getting married, right?" she said coolly to the outside of the door.

"Yep! Deeheehee."

A few curses issued from her mouth as she zipped her dress up once again. It was more convenient to have Billy pick out dresses for her. It was not, however, the wisest choice. He picked out things that were ugly, that were frilly, that were slutty. None of which Mandy ever planned on wearing. Ever.

"Lemme see ya! Pleeeease? Pleasepleaseplease?"

"Alright, alright," Mandy grumbled. She opened the door slowly.

Billy looked at her. He leaned against the wall. His grin had vanished, and was replaced with an absent smile. "Wooow," he said slowly. "Yer an angel, Mandy!" He placed his arm around her waist- taking her by surprise- and began to twirl her around the back of the store, dancing to an imaginary waltz.

"Stop that," she hissed. She shoved him away from her. "I'm wearing this sorry sack of a dress to Prom."

"Who's sorry? I'M not sorry!" he shouted, drawing the attention of several customers.

"You never are," Mandy sighed, turning around, wanting to get back into her normal outfit as soon as she possibly could.

"Mandy? Hey? Are, uh, you feelin' okay?"

"Yeah," Mandy replied, distracted. "I'm going to go upstairs. You, on the other hand, will be staying down here."

"Where are you goin'? Bleachers?"

"Roof," Mandy corrected him carelessly. She turned to walk away. Something grabbed her around the waist.

"Lemme come with you! C'mon Mandy!" Billy begged her.

She rolled her eyes. "Maybe I want to be alone."

"Maybe _I'm_ terrified of being alone!" Billy tried to reason with her. He released her waist, scratching his head in confusion. Why did she want to be alone so badly? Being alone was so _boring_, and it made him kinda sad... two things he almost never was.

"I'm sure you'll live," Mandy replied coldly. She began to walk slowly across the dance floor. With her dress concealing her feet, she almost looked as if she were floating, and Billy grappled with the thought that she looked barely human: she was so beautiful tonight, Billy thought happily. He watched her leave with a tinge of sorrow. She wanted to be alone. He also wanted to be alone... with her. When had she gotten so lovely? Maybe it was the lighting. Billy looked up at the gym lights suspiciously, as if they were hiding something. But that couldn't be it, he realized suddenly. He squinched up his face and remembered...

"Hey-a Mandy! Wanna-" Billy stopped suddenly. Mandy looked different today, and though Billy would have said, if asked, that he preferred Mandy as she was any time, the difference was... good. It was her thirteenth birthday. She was officially a surly teenager. As opposed to being a surly child.

And she looked so different! His mouth hung open a little bit, but strangely enough, the new kind of Mandy made it really hard for him to speak. He shut his mouth and swallowed. Her dress exposed her thin, tween-type calves, and her smooth knees, and a bit of pale skin above that. He looked back up to her face, noticing things there, too, that he hadn't before now. "Is that cake ready yet?" he said, relieved to have found his voice.

"I've already told you, it won't be for another half hour, so stop asking!"

Billy smiled. Mandy was still the girl he knew. She was ... changing, that was all.

She's changed LOTS, Billy concluded. It wasn't the lights.

He wandered over to the punch table and took a paper cupful. Eyes fixed on her retreating back, Billy smiled to himself, eagerly waiting for her to return.

-GABM-

Mandy stood perfectly still. The wind chilled her bare shoulders and blew at her hair, aiding the escape of a few yellow tendrils, as she stepped out of her shoes. Barefoot, she began to walk to the edge of the roof. Her feet were killing her already. She took her gloves off, scowling, and dropped them as well.

She would have taken her dress off, but the whole town could see her.

She could see the whole town, anyway.

Mandy reached the edge and sat down. Endsville lay at her feet, just the way she liked it. And, she had to admit, the view wasn't bad either. The town's lights glittered fabulously and cast an eerie glow into the sky- which, as Mandy tilted her head farther back, had more and more stars. It was almost pretty enough to make her care about it.

And it would be prettier still under her rule. Mandy nearly smiled, but caught herself at the last moment. Power. She'd turn the world into something servile. Something useful to her.

The wind gently chilled her exposed areas, reminding her that that day was a long way off. Until then, she was stuck doing stupid things, like entertaining idiots. Or attending Prom.

None of it was involuntary, either. Mandy had _chosen_ to go to this little dance thing. And she chose to spend time with Billy.

She looked into her lap and a bitter taste flooded her mouth. Billy. He was the problem. He was stopping her from becoming great. She was bitter about it, and she hated herself for admitting it, but she cared for him. As a friend... or, she grudgingly admitted, maybe something more.

A brief recollection of slow dancing with him brought swirls to her stomach. A memory of being pressed into him, with his breath on her neck (and later, his lips on hers) brought the swirls swooping downward.

_Well isn't this cute_, a jeering voice snarled in the back of her mind. Mandy hastily hardened her heart, but the damage was done. _In love with the first booger-flinging moron that blunders my way_, Mandy thought. The voice was gone. The voice was... her. She stood up, furious. She couldn't deny her own feelings, but they made her feel weak, and powerless. For a few seconds, she tottered around precariously. 

Only when she was steady did she dare to look down.

The dizzying drop intensified any angry emotions she might have been feeling. It was a long, long way down. The alley below was dark. The pavement had never looked so hard. In fact, a fall down from here would almost certainly... kill her.

-GABM-

Billy was getting tired of all these stairs. He panted and snorted as his legs seemed to become heavier and heavier. The one consolation, though, was that Mandy was at the top. He smiled foolishly.

_Thwack_. "Owww..." he whined in the darkness. He'd hit his head on the ceiling. Smile reappearing, Billy reached upwards with both hands. He shoved the trapdoor open and stuck his head up out of the hole, as a seal coming up through a breathing hole would have done. He peeped about. There were Mandy's shooooesies, and there were her gloves, and there- 

His breath seemed to get stuck in his throat.

Mandy was standing a few yards away, at the very edge of the roof. From his angle, Billy could only see her back, but it didn't matter. She still stole his breath away.

The wind blew fiercely now. It lifted her skirt slightly- the many thin, translucent layers of the garment floated about, giving her an ethereal look. A few strands of her hair blew about as well. With the starlight on her dress, on her skin, and shining in her hair, she looked... inhuman. The wind blew harder and outlined half of her body. _She's one of them floater magic things! She's an angel!_ Billy managed to think.

"Mandy!" He called out suddenly. The wind lifted his voice away. "Mandy!" A blast of cold air gusted into his eyes, and he began to tear up. Mandy didn't hear him. He struggled onto the roof, desperate to reach her for some reason, and sprinted towards her. Tears flying from his eyes, he grabbed her around the waist. Her struggles were nothing to him. He ran her back to the trapdoor, which had blown shut, and set her down next to it.

His efforts were greeted by a hard smack over the head. "Never do that again," Mandy spat furiously.

Billy sat down next to her, heart thudding. He pulled her onto his lap- something he had never done before- and held her tightly. Gently, he buried his face in her hair.

"_My _starlight," Billy mumbled triumphantly.

Mandy began to struggle to free herself. Billy released her with a pang of sadness. "What are you talking about?" she demanded. "And why do you think you can just-"

"I'm sorry!" he blurted. "When you were right near the edge, you were _byoo_tiful, and it made meh sad, but I dunno why. I feels like I want more of you than I can have, ya know? Just like my dad's motorcycle! Hey, I should take you for a ride one-a these days!" He looked into her eyes and grinned at her sweetly.

Mandy looked back. "You can't drive, Billy," she said icily.

Billy leaned towards her. "Says who?"

Mandy felt her heart beat faster. She felt his breath on her face- it smelled as though he'd eaten a bowlful of mints. She wouldn't put it past him, either... "Get away," she said suddenly.

Billy's eyes snapped open. His grin vanished, and he leaned away. "Sorry," he murmured again, sheepishly. "I just thought...since...ya know..."

Mandy's heart softened the tiniest bit. "I know," she said, in her trademark monotone. "But that mushy sort of thing is usually unacceptable. Besides, I'm not in the right mood."

"Oooh! What kinda moodja in, Mandy?" he babbled.

Mandy hesitated. She shot him a glance. "The kind of mood where I want to be left alone," she said roughly. "Meaning _you_ should."

Something twisted her conscience a bit.

Billy was silent. Mandy waited, apprehensive, for him to slide down the trapdoor.

He didn't. Instead, still knowing enough to keep his own trap shut, he scooched over next to her. Mandy felt the contact of skin on skin- Billy had placed his hand over hers. He was looking at her again, noticing how nice she looked, smiling sweetly in her direction with affection written deeply into every little movement.

Mandy couldn't quite stop herself from looking back. "You don't look half as stupid without your hat," she found herself observing, "although you might have bothered to comb your hair a bit."

Billy's hand flew to his messy, neon-orange hair. He dragged his hand through it slightly... which made it messier. "Yep!" he proclaimed happily. Grinning, he put his arm around her shoulders. Mandy allowed him to draw her into his side- she made sure to keep her head upright, though, because in this position it was almost impossible to keep herself from leaning her head on his shoulder. Billy shifted slightly so that he was facing her. "Let's not go near the edge again," he pleaded suddenly. "All that woozly high-upness scares the poop outta me!"

"Fine," Mandy snapped.

"Aww, thanks!" Billy said. The amount of gratitude in his voice was overwhelming, as if she had just saved his life. He squeezed Mandy into him, giggling as he wrapped his jacket around the both of them. His breath was hot on her face again.

"Don't try to kiss me." Mandy's voice was barely a murmur, but the tone was low, and threatening.

Billy's mind was too preoccupied to form a response. Rather than kissing her, as she expected, he let his head droop forward. Their cheeks pressed together, warm.

Billy pushed his mouth lower, just below her jawbone. Mandy's stomach fluttered about erratically: he wasn't kissing her, exactly...

"Hey, you smells good!" Billy stopped for an instant to say.

Mandy was slightly surprised; she wasn't wearing any sort of perfume. And- his mouth was back on her neck. He wasn't doing anything fancy or silly with his tongue, but what **was** he doing? The skin on her neck felt sensitive. Vulnerable. But- strangely- it wasn't at all objectionable...

-GABM-

Mandy sat up and rubbed her eyes blearily. Last night had _almost_ been enjoyable. She let the rooftop events slide; Billy hadn't even gone far enough to kiss her. After the dance, he'd walked her home, then pleaded with her to stay the night at her house as well. Which he did, on her ugly blue couch. He was probably already breakfasting with Grim, eating orange peels and chewing on whole coffee beans.

Her thoughts vaguely brushed over the night before as she walked into the kitchen. Billy had behaved in normal Billy fashion last night, with his own Billy-style of romance, but nobody needed to know.

Grim choked on his coffee when she entered.

"What?" Mandy asked him sharply.

Grim set his mug down. Billy, seeing an opening, snatched it away and downed the coffee, a beverage he was usually kept away from. "You have, a, a little, ehm," Grim began uncomfortably, "a little mark."

"What're you talking about?" Mandy replied, vexed.

"You've got a hickey da size of Texas on your neck, child," Grim said.

Pause, pause, pause. Grim lifted his mug, and, finding it empty, growled menacingly at Billy. Otherwise, there was silence. _Awkward_ silence.

Mandy felt her neck gingerly. A small patch of skin burned under her touch. The area felt chapped and bruised. "As soon as I get rid of this, you're _dead_!" she snarled at Billy, who was busy stuffing coffee beans up his nose. "Grim," she ordered harshly, "use your scythe. Get rid of this... this blemish."

Grim raised an eyebrow. "It isn't fully charged yet, Mandy. Are you sure y-"

"Shut up. Do it."

Grim sighed and leveled the weapon at Mandy's neck. "Here goes nuttin'," he mumbled. Closing one eye, he took careful aim, and fired a glowing green blast at the mark.

! 

Mandy felt the area carefully. "It's the same!" she said, crankily.

Grim's eye sockets were as wide as they could possibly go. "No," he said slowly, "it's...not da same, Mandy." Billy gasped, and coffee beans sprayed from his ears. He sat straight up, looking awestruck and horrified at the same time, as he gave a jabbing gesture to Mandy's neck.

"OMYGOSH! The spot I put on yer neck turned green!" Billy stood up and shouted, pointing accusingly.

"What- _ahhh_. Sch!" Mandy made strange noises, her brow furrowing.

"OMYGOSH! She's speaking in tongues of unholy alliances!" Billy shouted again, to no one in particular.

"No, I'm not," Mandy hissed. "I'm just in extreme pain. Grim- _agh_!" Her legs collapsed, and she fell, landing on all fours. One of her eyes twitched once, and she bit her lip, trying not to cry out. What the hell did that stupid skeleton _do_ to her?

Her eyes widened for an instant as she spotted a greenish glow on the kitchen walls. Then, she gritted her teeth and squinched her eyes shut: her neck involuntary was bent to one side, the side with the green on it facing more upwards. A deep, horrible feeling arose in the back of her throat, and she groaned slightly as she prepared to throw up all over the floor. "Billy," she choked out.

"If I cared about your safety, boy, I'd advise you ta stay away right now," Grim said. She could hear the strain in his voice. What was going on?

Billy ignored the warning. Mandy felt his hand slip in hers, and she squeezed it in a death grip as he used his other hand to tilt her head up slightly.

A deep, quiet moan of pain issued from her throat, and the flesh of her neck began to ache with a searing intensity- it felt as though someone was tearing the flesh open with their fingernails, and her body shook with the awful pain. Something huge was worming its way out of her. Something sticky and hot dribbled down her neck. _Blood_, she thought. When she opened her eyes enough to squint at it, though, the slimy drops of liquid were green, not red.

She was too preoccupied to care much, though she was slightly surprised. Her skin certainly felt like it was being torn open, and she ground her teeth together, suppressing screams of sheer agony. The thing began to come out with greater ease- she could feel it moving smoothly now, though it wasn't any less excruciating.

! Something wet and rather large hit the floor, providing Mandy with an instant of relief, before the entire process started all over again. Little red dots swam before her eyes. "Billy," she gasped out. "Am I bleeding very badly?" 

"No," came his hushed response. Why did he sound so horrified?

Mandy groaned and tried to find some way to push the thing out of her- which was difficult, because it wasn't exactly inside of her, either. There was an unpleasant squelching. More of the greenish goop splattered out, this time in a more copious amount, allowing the thing- whatever it was- to slide out more easily.

"Well, well, well," a familiar voice jeered. Mandy groaned, partly because of the voice, and partly because it felt like another being was coming.

This one was even easier. Mandy felt copious amounts of goop slide all down her throat and down her dress front, splattering all over the floor once again, forming a huge puddle of the stuff, and the thing simply slid out.

Another arrived, and another, and another, but other than a slight stretching, the pain was mostly gone. Mandy felt sweat drip down her forehead. It landed and mixed with the puddle of green. Thing after nightmarish thing spattered to the floor, and eventually, she collapsed from a strange exhaustion. "Billy," she mumbled. Billy's concerned face swam into view. "What's hap-" she winced as another being began to slide from her neck- "-happening?"

But she never got to hear his response. Rather than bothering to hear him out, her brain decided it had had enough, and slowly plunged her into unconsciousness.

-GABM-

"Hey! Yer okay!" Billy said, sounding as if he'd been given the best gift of all time.

Mandy groaned and opened her eyes. Struggling to sit up, the room came slowly into focus, and two concerned faces- one with an abnormally large nose, the other with no flesh on their face at all- appeared before her. Suspiciously, Mandy prodded her neck. She started slightly as a trail of green slime oozed from her, but Billy dismissed it with a wave of his hand and a grin. "Yep, it's been doing that since you started with all that crazzeh stuff, but I thinks yer all done now."

"Just a bit of afterbirth, mon," Grim added.

"Afterbirth..." Mandy repeated, glaring at the slime. She collected some of it and rubbed it between her thumb and her forefinger. A slimier, oilier substance could not have been achieved.

"You gaves birth to ka-billions of zombies! That makes me the daddy, right? Right Mandy?"

Mandy ignored his last question, her attention instead focused on the first part of what he'd said. "Zombies?" she said, her voice low and deadly. "I went through all that for a bunch of rotting dead guys?"

"Sure ya did! Me n' Grim locked 'em in yer daddy's garage!"

"Except me," added a shrewd, smug voice.

"Except you," Billy acknowledged, face becoming somewhat pale. He moved to the head of Mandy's bed, away from the voice. Now it was he who had her hand in a death grip.

Mandy felt her heart race, and she glared into the corner, where she knew an ugly, sharp-toothed fortune-teller was waiting. She recognized that voice.

"Gorla," she spat.

The woman stepped from the shadows, grinning widely. "At your service, dear."

Gorla bowed, and her head fell off.

**AN: w00t! I stole an OC villain from my first story!**


	2. Of Interesting Reactions

**AN: Wooo! Lookit me! I wrote Chapter 2 after running around all day in the hot sun piling giant square bales of hay onto a Kubota, and I still typed after the strings in the hay made my hands blister! Yes, I loves you all THAT much.**

"Whoops-a-daisies!" Gorla's head giggled from the floor. "Could you get that, Billy, lover?"

Billy took a halting step towards her.

Mandy felt her muscles tense up, ready to spring into action. "Billy, don't do _anything_ she says." Her voice was terse with the amount of effort it took to keep herself under control. "Grim. Kill her. Now."

"I...can't," Grim said, first looking at Mandy, then turning and raising a bony eyebrow at Gorla. "She's already dead."

"Yes," Gorla piped up, "and I'd like to see you try!" Grinning, she picked up her head and set it back on her neck with a soft squelch.

"Get out," Mandy said curtly.

Gorla shook her removable head, her jack o'lantern grin plastered on, and replied: "Fat chance, Little Bitch. Look out the window."

Mandy found her gaze sliding towards the window. Billy, who had already dashed over to the window and back, gave a girly scream and dove under Mandy's covers, whimpering. Mandy's expression, though, did not register her surprise as the view of the outside world came into focus.

Dripping green zombies were snarling, staggering about, grabbing at passers-by. There were at least five of them. One was busy gnawing at the bloodied skull of a citizen. Another, as Mandy watched, was yanked into the bushes by what appeared to be a short girl in black. The zombie did not return, but the bushes rustled, and Mandy assumed the girl had met her doom. The other zombies simply staggered about. As Mandy surveyed the scene, she noticed a large, dark hole bashed through the garage doors. "So what?" she said coldly. "You have a few zombies, five creatures too stupid the wipe the ectoplasm from their faces, and I have the Grim Reaper."

"A _stupid_ Grim Reaper who can't even kill me?"

Mandy shrugged. She wasn't going to lie.

"But he's ancient! He's ugly! And I'm willing to bet he's impotent, too, so what use is he to anyone?"

"Dat's a bit much!" Grim said, sounding hurt. "I may be ancient, but I ain't ugly, and I sure as heck ain't-"

"Don't talk to her," Mandy snapped. She narrowed her eyes at Grim. "Maybe if we ignore her, she'll realize what a worthless, disgusting, piggish old bag she is, and decide to leave us alone."

"I'll _kill_ you."

It happened in a blur: Gorla dashed over to Mandy and wrapped her long-nailed fingers around her throat, squeezing as hard as she could. Dots began to swim before Mandy's eyes. She struggled and kicked vehemently.

"Don't struggle too hard!" Grim's voice called over the rushing in her ears. "Remember Lennie and Curley's wife!"

Mandy ground her teeth. "What a stupid reference," she tried to choke out.

There was another squelching sound, this one much closer to her ear- Gorla's hands slipped and slid around, and the woman cursed loudly. Mandy felt a grim sense of satisfaction; Gorla had squeezed her neck too hard, and had made leftover ectoplasm gush onto her hands, thus loosening her grip. Mandy jerked away and kicked the woman in the stomach.

The sight was almost comical. Gorla's body flew and smashed into the wall, while her head merely rolled off the bed and screamed in outrage on the floor. Mandy grabbed a fistful of Gorla's bright green dreadlocks and smashed the head into the wall as hard as she could, then slid out of bed and pressed her knee into the Undead woman's chest, crushing her slowly. Brownish gore oozed from Gorla's neck.

The smell of dead blood made Mandy even angrier. She lit into her, baring her teeth. Using her short nails, she dug into the woman's wound, blindly furious at her for all she was doing- all she had done. Pressure applied to the body's stomach or chest caused more brown blood to gush from her neck, and Mandy dug into her hatefully.

"Hm. Well, at least I'm thinner without all those troublesome organs removed," Gorla noted, grin twitching insanely.

"ZOMBIES AT THE WINDOW!" Billy blurted. "Boy, this zombie's goin' crazy as a 'nanner peeling festival." He tore his gaze from the window and noticed the sight before him. "Mandy, get Gorla _out of here!_" Billy screamed, apparently just noticing that the Undead fortune-teller was in the vicinity. "Please, Mandy..."

His voice was softer now. Weak with fear. And the fact that anyone could make Billy of all people use that tone, it made Mandy feel...

She stopped clawing at the dead (but not lifeless) body, waiting for the familiar rage to overwhelm her once again. It didn't. In its place was a strange, empty bitterness.

"Leave, Grim, and take Gorla with you," she heard herself say.

"I'm not going anywhere I don't want to," snapped Gorla, as Grim obediently dragged her head and body away. "I'll have the zombies tearing into your flesh in _seconds_ flat..."

The door slammed shut.

"Are you puh-sy-kicks?"

Billy hugged Mandy gently, relief seeping into his every movement. Mandy prepared to shove him away after five seconds, but stood still as she felt him shaking. A few of his tears landed on the back of her neck. "I _hates_ that ugly woman," he spat. Mandy looked up at him, and was surprised to see him scowling in helpless misery.

"_You're_ ugly when you're upset," Mandy replied, moving away a foot or two. "Squinty eyes, flaring nostrils- I don't know why I bother."

"Deeheehee," Billy giggled, wiping a few tears away with the back of his hand. "'Cause you loves meh?"

Mandy slapped him. It did nothing to remove the smile that had once again affixed itself to his idiotic face. Softly, he laid his hand over the mark he'd left there the night before, and grinned at Mandy, looking pleased. It earned him another smack over the head, but of course, he didn't seem to care. "Hey, wanna gets married?"

"We're sixteen years old, Billy."

"Yeah," Billy admitted, "but we kissed! And, and we could start a food fight at the wedding, and then we could get a million of beds, and I could grab a urinal- and _eat_ it! Hmm, whaddaya say?" He elbowed her side suggestively, chortling like the fool he was.

Mandy sat on the edge of her bed and absently watched the havoc outside. "I say you're a moron," she replied, her voice sharper than her stare.

The mattress moved up and down violently- Mandy turned to see what the disturbance was, and found Billy jumping on her bed. He was much taller than when he had last done this; each time he jumped, his head hit the ceiling. "Ouchies! _Deeheehee_. Ooh, I know! Let's us jump together!" 

Before Mandy could come up with a decent warning, she felt a pair of hands grab beneath her armpits and lift her to a standing position. She glared at him. The mattress moved up and down beneath her feet.

"Aw, c'mon! All you gots to do is jump with me! _Ouch_!" Billy released another bout of giggles as his head smacked the ceiling.

"No," Mandy replied icily. The mattress gave one final movement, and her glare eased up a bit in surprise as she lost her footing, her balance compromised. "Billy," she had time to snap, "you-"

_Wumpf_. Her head connected with something warm, and decently firm: Billy's chest. She felt him grab ahold of her as he laughed gleefully. In an effort to stop jumping, Billy lost his own footing, and, still clinging to his friend, he toppled over onto the bed. Giggling all the way, of course. 

His giggles tapered off suddenly. Mandy was laying beneath him, her hair mussed up, her chest heaving as she panted in his face. For a few moments, her eyes were wide, her eyebrows raised up in- surprise? Billy's eyelids drooped, his smile becoming wobbly and unfocused. A pleasant feeling began to swim throughout his body. Unthinkingly, he bowed his head and pressed his lips above her eyebrow.

Mandy felt her face flush. "Enough," she said, a warm, agreeable feeling beginning to spread from where his lips were.

She moved away, out from under him, and wiped off the bit of saliva he'd left. "You disgust me," she said frostily. Guilt tugged at her. _You were enjoying it just as much as he was_. _Go on, admit it_.

Mandy venomously refused to admit anything, no matter how obvious it was. She'd admitted enough when she'd kissed him a few weeks ago. Show no weakness, and never, ever succumb to pleasure, she thought, pushing the dregs of her hormone rush away.

On the other hand... she knew she had a soft spot for him, but that didn't necessarily mean everyone else had to know. If affection was shown in private, would it really do harm? Maybe it would provide an outlet for the troublesome... the appetite that he'd been displaying lately.

"Let's go downstairs."

-GABM-

"Pass the salt, Little Bitch." Gorla chewed loudly on a chicken bone, grinding it to dust between her sharp teeth. Mandy ignored her. "Well, then, you give me the salt, darling," Gorla addressed Billy.

Mandy opened her mouth to object, but Billy, squirming in his seat, had already obeyed. Gorla grabbed his hand halfway across the table. To everyone's shock, she sprinkled the idiot's hand itself with salt, then bit gently on it, causing beads of blood to appear. Mandy felt her face go livid. Billy let his hand drop limply on the tabletop after Gorla had finished.

"Don't you dare touch him. Ever." Mandy's voice was quiet, and her face was pale; however, she came across as anything but feeble. The sheer weight of malevolence in her voice fell like a shroud on the table's atmosphere. There were a few seconds of silence. Even Gorla's fanatical grin had vanished.

Billy lifted his hand from the table, seemingly just noticing that it was there, and began to shovel food into his mouth as if nothing had happened- his loud crunching, smacking noises broke the seriousness of the entire scene. Gorla's grin lit back up like a trick birthday candle. "No need to take offense, Little Bitch. I just missed the taste of his flesh. Surely you wouldn't be selfish enough to deprive him of-"

"His virginity? No, I wouldn't, even if I wanted to," Mandy snapped curtly.

"His virginity's long gone," Gorla smirked, reclining in her chair and waving a scarlet-nailed hand. "Biologically speaking. And you weren't half-bad, Billyboy! Great thing about boy virgins- boys're better the first time around."

Billy's face was bright red, and it looked rather unusual with no smile. There was no way Mandy could ever be sure of what was running through his pointless mind, but now, she guessed that he'd finally gotten a tiny inkling of what they were talking about. Gorla continued: "And I'd always wondered if nose size corresponded at all with- you know. I found-"

Mandy stood up quickly, rage burning wildly inside of her. "That's _enough_."

"Why? I don't see Billy protesting, and at the time, he didn't have any trouble keeping hard, so why?"

Mandy felt her heart thud. Each beat was unpredictably rapid, but loud enough to muffle everything else out. Her vision quietly darkened. A new, unfamiliar feeling swept her thoughts away, but she knew better, on instinct, than to struggle against it. Her mouth formed words all by itself, but she couldn't even tell whether it was a whisper or a scream that issued from her lips. Her limbs were weightless and alive, and Mandy forked over control to them, too, as Gorla's words left their imprint in her mind.

...And darkness overtook her.

-GABM-

"Pleeease-a! Pleasepleaseplease. Please, please, pleasepleasepleasepleasep-"

Mandy groaned. "Shut up, Billy."

"See, Grim? I tellsya, 'please' works on everything!"

Mandy blinked. She was slightly surprised to see herself coated and crispy with a brown substance. What'd she been doing? Rolling around in the mud? Her not-nose wrinkled slightly. It definitely smelled worse than mud... not that she cared about the impression she'd make on those two dolts. Realizing her hand was clutching something, she opened her fist- the "something" clanged to the floor. "A... steak knife," she said, monotone masking her confusion.

"Put two and two togedder, girl," Grim said wearily.

"She can't have died twice. Or are you dumb enough to believe even that, Grim?" Mandy replied coldly. On the inside, however, she wasn't feeling half as smooth. She had no idea how she'd gotten here, or what she'd done. But she was beginning to.

"You didn't kill her, Mandy. You destroyed her. Completely obliterated her, child! I didn't t'ink it was possible..."

"Try not to underestimate me," Mandy replied nonchalantly. "It leads to unpleasant things. For you."

"Yeah, I can see dat," Grim replied, his voice getting higher and girlier with fear. "Eh-heh, want ta go out for smoothies or somet'ing?" He put on his best smile and swallowed nervously.

"I suppose." Her eyes narrowed as she looked down at herself. "Though I may require a bath beforehand."

"Oooh, a _bath_!" Billy said excitedly. His spirits seemed much, much, much, much, much, much better now. Mandy suppressed possible feelings of relief. "I loves me some bathtime, even though I hate it! _Takin' a bath_! Can I helps?"

**AN: I'd originally planned for Gorla to lurk around for much longer, before deciding that she's just too much of a bitch and that Mandy would tear her to shreds anyway. Yeah, this chapter didn't have much humor or fluff in it, which is kinda sad, because humor and fluff are what I live for. Don't worry, I'll throw a bunch of dirty sex jokes in your faces in my next update. And fluff. By JOVE, there shall be fluff!!!**


	3. Of Fluffy Fluffiness & Innocence

**AN: Hey, I don't have a disclaimer anywhere in here yet! Well, here we go: I don't own Billy and Mandy. Some guy with a girly MySpace does. (Want some ice for that burn, Maxwell?)(Actually, it just has pink, green, and black. It's pretty sweet.) :D**

_Chink, chink, chink_.

Mandy stepped behind Billy, leaning over him slightly to see what he was messing up this time around. "What're you doing?" she demanded suspiciously.

"Tryin' to get into yer bathroom so's I can helps ya take a bath! Yer door's stuck like a big ugly chunk of glue!" Billy replied. His palms were spread wide in a helpless gesture. His grin reappeared suddenly. "So I'ma help you, just like Mr. Fixit!" _Chink, chink, chink_. Billy hit the porcelain doorknob repeatedly with the metal end of a screwdriver.

Mandy pinched in between her eyes, exasperated. "Up, Billy," she gritted. "First, we _knock_." She rapped on the door loudly. There was no reply. "Then- watch me carefully, you idiot- we use the _doorknob_."

"We?" Billy repeated excitedly. "Doessat mean I can helps, Mandy? Wowwers, I could even bathify myself with you!"

Mandy slapped him. The blow was almost... gentle. She didn't _quite_ want to hurt him.

And, even if she _had_ hurt him, chances were he'd still be grinning.

"No," she replied shortly, entering the room and slamming the door in his face.

Something on her arm itched. Absently scratching it, Mandy brought her fingers away, only to find that they were coated completely with brown gunk- in the creases of her knuckles, on the tips of her fingers, under her fingernails. The sight of it made her fume. _Gorla_. Mandy let a few insults and curses drop heavily from her mouth, and turned the bathwater on, feeling a sudden need to wash every bit of the disgusting woman away from her. Also upsetting was the fact that she'd killed Gorla during a blackout. Not that there was anything wrong with blind, murderous hatred, but because she'd been in a different state of mind, the memory of ripping Gorla to pieces wouldn't be accessible for future enjoyment.

Mandy opened her mouth to curse again. Instead, the word that issued quietly from her lips was-

"Billy." It was more breathed than spoken, but, regardless, Mandy glared and flushed a bit after saying it.

"You callin'?" Billy flung the door open. "Heres I am, Mandy, and heres I'll stay! Wait, you need mah help! Obviunoususiosously you gots NO idea how to take a bath. But that's okay, I'll coach ya through it! First of all, you take your clothes off..."

"I know how to bathe," Mandy said coldly. "More than you, I might add. You smell like a donkey's hindquarters." She removed her headband and stepped out of her shoes, but went no further, her stomach swirling as she felt the redhead's gaze on her. Mandy frowned a bit. She'd been getting similar swirls too often lately.

Billy flipped the toilet seat down- it landed with a crash- and sat on it happily. Mandy turned to look at him. His eyes sought hers, and when they met, his smile changed: where a huge, hyper grin had been an instant earlier, there was now a simple smile, every kind and affectionate intention written into it. "Hey, why're ya frowning more than like you usually do?" he blabbed. "Oh, I gots an idea! Come sit with me! Then we can hug. And stuff." Billy grinned again, moving over slightly and invitingly patting the seat beside him.

Mandy hesitated. She hated giving in, hated the feeling of doing something that wasn't completely independent, but she did like...

She shook her head, ridding herself of the heinous thought. She did _not _like being held once in a while, but agreed to be, simply to humor Billy. What had gotten into her? The fact that she had some sort of attachment to him- friendship or otherwise- was unavoidable, but there was no way she was going to get that soppy. Cautiously, her glare firmly in place, she crossed over to him and sat down.

Billy's grin once again became his content, kind smile. Mandy tried not to let too much of her guard down as he pulled her gently in. She felt a slight pressure on her head- rolling her eyes upwards, the source was discovered to be Billy's hand, coming to rest in her hair. He giggled. "You gots some real soft hair on yer head, mmhmm. I like it without that black stripe you have in it always- but, but I also like the black stripe too, so why don't we go moon a baker? _Deeheehee_, that'd be fun. We can do all sortsa stuff, Mandy. Ooh, like go ter another dimension and make Grim's scythe work for doggy pickles, and find some tall blue grass where we can spray happy milk sauce into each other!" Billy's tone wasn't as insanely overexcited as it usually was. It was... warm, almost. Mandy took a chance and shot a quick look at his face, which, by now, was very close to hers. He was looking back, of course. She turned her face away, her cheeks burning.

"Whas' wrong?" he blurted. There were a few seconds of silence. Mandy felt his hand cup her chin, guiding it gently back towards his face, and he giggled. "D'aw, you don't gots to be all shy. Whatever you do is A-okay, in the same way whatever my Mom and Dad do in private is okay!"

"Uninteresting," Mandy replied coolly.

Billy stood up suddenly, his grin back on, and pulled Mandy to her feet via her left hand. Off-balance and caught by surprise, she began to fall over, her steely glare never flinching. Billy caught her by the waist and pulled her close again. One of his hands remained there; the other trailed its way to the back of her head. She felt her heart beating erratically for the second time that day. This time, however, it was for a quite different reason than anger.

"Billy, I have to take my bath. Get out," she said. What else was there for her to do or say?

"WAIT! Don't forget me while I'm gone!"

"How-"

Mandy's words were cut off. The hand on the back of her head had pushed her face forward slightly, and Billy gave her a short kiss on the corner of her mouth. He exhaled once- warm air brushed the side of her face- and then he kissed her again.

And this time, his lips were dead-on.

Mandy allowed her eyes to close. If she'd had them open, she wouldn't have been able to see anything, anyway, but it felt more... tolerable... when she had them shut. _Well, perhaps a bit more than... _she had time to think, before she let her thoughts spin away. She was vaguely aware of his arm tightening around her, pulling her closer- but most of all, the dizzying, enthralling feeling of him kissing her. A deep soft sound tried to rise in the back of her throat. She could almost feel Billy's mouth curling into a smile against her own, and her lips began to tingle enjoyably. The feeling worked its way to her brain, and to her body, and, somehow, she was aware of feeling energized and pleasantly drowsy at the same time.

Billy broke away to plant a gentle kiss on her cheek. The trance was immediately broken; her eyes snapped open, the world zoomed back into focus, and- by some means- she found herself with her arms around him. Her face was colored slightly. "Billy..."

"I had to!" Billy cried out randomly. "That face you gots! You're purty and I loves you but even if you were horrifically disfigured I'd still loves you 'cause! MandyIdidn'tmeantadoanything pleeease don't be mad at me and hit my nose off again!" He stood through Mandy's stupefied silence, his smile reappearing all by itself after a few seconds. "Actually, you can hit my nose off if you really wanna. Growing it back is fun."

Mandy complied.

-GABM-

After draining and refilling the bathwater four times while she bathed, she had finally gotten every trace of blood off of herself. She allowed one tiny emotion- relief- to sink in and comfort her as she put a clean dress on, but didn't let any hint of it creep into her expression, even in private. It wasn't difficult; Mandy was used to glaring through everything she felt. When her emotions were secret, she had the decided advantage over the average buffoons of the world.

However, the limitation of her emotions was part of the package, too. Her glare increased. The last kiss he'd given her was somehow very different, in a way that felt good at the time, but afterwards made her question how much control she really did have over the situation.

She brushed her hair back into its usual style, placing her hairband in. She'd do whatever she liked, thank you very much, and if she liked the kiss, so be it. Thus conquering her self-doubt, Mandy opened the door to the bathroom.

Billy was waiting for her outside, scythe in hands. "How's about that happy sauce, _hmmm_?"

Shhhing!

A familiar green portal opened up in front of the two adolescents. Mandy turned slowly to Billy, raising one eyebrow, keeping the other in a stoical glare. "Do I even want to know where this leads?"

"Nope! Let's go!"

Giggling stupidly, Billy grabbed the blonde's hand and leapt into the swirling vortex, his laughter continuing as they were both zipped away to another dimension.

A new portal spat Billy out. An instant later, Mandy followed, hurtling into him, grinding her teeth as they both fell to the ground. To her surprise, the landing was soft.

A moment later, she saw why. They were surrounded by three-foot-tall grass. _Blue_ grass. "For Hell's sake, Billy..."

"Toldja I'd bring ya here!" Billy gave an exaggerated, contented sigh, flopping down beside his friend in the long grass, crossing his arms behind his head. "Oooh..."

Mandy followed his gaze upwards. The sky near the horizon was deep crimson, but as she looked farther upwards, it became darker and darker until it was black at the highest point. A single, bluish star twinkled in the center of the blackness. Mandy let her gaze settle on it absently, propping herself up on her elbows, and Billy smiled easily, his gaze directed at the same place. Neither of them spoke. The view was strangely beautiful.

Billy sat up, tearing his eyes away from the sky. He smiled sweetly at her. Almost instinctively, Mandy looked back at him. "Isn't the sky great?" Billy said, gesturing widely. "I like that star. It's like a nipple of the night, huh? Dee_heeheehee_... nipple."

Mandy smacked him. "When did you learn to conjure interesting things, anyway?" she asked, the old suspicion back in her voice.

Billy shrugged, grinning. "Ehhhm, Iunno. But I can conjures anything with this old blade-stick! Like a bouquet of roses... or even better: a _balloon_!" He did so, opening up a small portal, out of which floated a mauve balloon with an angry face drawn on it. Smiling happily, he handed the balloon string to Mandy.

She immediately popped it on the edge of the scythe.

"_Noooo_!" Billy screamed. He gathered up the pieces, his eyes watering, his nose beginning to ooze snot. Foolishly, he began to try to piece it back together. "Why, Mr. Balloon-With-A-Angry-Face? _Why-hy-hyyyy_!" Billy broke down, sobbing, hugging the pieces to his chest.

Mandy rolled her eyes. "Billy. It's a _balloon_. There's nothing remotely sad about it."

"Yes there is!" Billy sniffled, wiping his nose on his arm. "There's nothing sadder than a piece of torn latex, Mandy!" Again, he broke down, flopping on his belly and pounding his fist on the ground. Mandy waited patiently for a few seconds.

Then, she grabbed the back of his collar and yanked him back into a sitting position. Tears still ran down his face. "Quit your blubbering," she growled. "What would we do with that stupid thing, anyway?"

Billy giggled, and his tears stopped pouring. "Eat it. _Duh_!" Before Mandy could stop him, he scooped up the pieces and shoveled them to his mouth, trying in vain to chew them. Once he realized that the balloon could not, in fact, be chewed, he simply swallowed them all whole, his eyes watering again from the effort it took. This led to a violent fit of coughing and gagging. "I can't- _glagh_- hard little pieces of Mr. Angry-"

Mandy sighed. Resigned, she began to thump him on the back as hard as she could. Eventually the chunks of balloon, now covered in slime, flew out of his mouth and into the surrounding grass.

Billy smiled and gave her a soft hug. He took advantage of her surprised silence to insert a few words of his own- "Aww, thanks you! Ya saveded my life. I ain't never gonna forget this, nuh-uh- every time something rubbery yet hard gets put in my mouth, I'm gonna think of your kindfulness, Mandy!"

Mandy opened her mouth to say something, but forgot what it was when she looked at him. He really did look grateful- as if she'd given him the best gift in all the Universe- and the smile on his face could not have been any sweeter.

"Hey, I knows what to do!"

Again, he picked up the scythe. There was another zapping noise, and, giggling stupidly, he handed her a bouquet of white roses.

**AN: Aww...**


	4. Evil Vs Evil

**AN: Yaaay, Chapter 4. Hey, look over there! Is there a plot on the horizon?!**

"Billy," Mandy said simply. There was no tone in her voice. No gratitude, no anger, no suspicion... nothing but a flat, inexplicable deadpan. She looked quickly down at the flowers: a dozen flawless roses in full bloom shone prettily back up at her. Something blossomed inside her own mind, confusing her slightly, and, try as she might, she couldn't shake the feeling. _Billy probably doesn't even know what flowers mean_, Mandy thought, trying to get herself anchored back into her usual mood. For once, she didn't know what to say. So she did what she always did under circumstances of uncertainty: she shot a dirty, angry glance at Billy.

"Emmm, sorry 'bout that," Billy said. "I meant for those to be pink, but they came out like an empty dinner plate." His words were followed by a brief pause, during which his grin disappeared: he really _was _sorry.

But only for an instant.

"Ya know what? I'm gonna go pick some roses by hand, and tie 'em with my left shoelace, and give you that boo-kay too! The left shoelace always wins." His hands flew to his mouth, deviously trying to cover his grin. "Teehee." With another idiotic chortle, he dropped the scythe, dashing off into the (literally) blue yonder, shouting a long string of gibberish that got quieter as the distance grew wider.

Mandy's glare slackened. The idiot couldn't be left alone for three seconds without wrecking something, let alone three minutes. With a groan and a sigh, she stood up and strode off after him.

-GABM-

"Come out, Billy," Mandy said, aggravated.

There was a silence.

"Fine," she said coolly, "I'll just sit here and wait for you to do something stupid. You'll reveal your location eventually."

"Nuh-uh!" Billy's reply came back rather indignantly. Mandy turned around, weary. His voice had come from directly behind her.

As Mandy had chased Billy in his idiotic and somewhat fruitless journey, the grass had gotten taller and thicker, until it was well over their heads- and, a few minutes earlier, Billy had decided that it would make for a fun game of hide-and-seek.

Mandy disagreed.

"Billy, this is a stupid game," she found herself growling.

"Deehee_heehee_. YER MOM!"

The shout had come from her left. Her gaze shot to that direction, one eyebrow raised questioningly, but she'd barely had time to turn that way when-

_Wumpf_! Mandy found herself falling- tackled- to the ground. The wind was knocked out of her. For a few moments, she lay gasping on the ground, too winded and too furious to speak. The grass towered around her, and Billy's stupidly smiling countenance swam into sight. "Hey! I forgot to tells you- I changed the game from hide-n'-seek to tackle football!" 

Mandy craned her neck a bit. The redhead was straddled over her, his arms on either side of hers, and was smiling idiotically into her face as he waited for her response. She let her head fall back and glared at him spitefully. What now? Mandy ground her teeth- Billy was still spanning her, still smiling, his intentions obviously only to play around. Innocently.

Still, he needed to be taught a lesson.

Mandy jerked her leg upwards as hard as she could, which was difficult- and the leverage was all wrong-

Rather than causing a mind-blowing explosion of pain by crushing his unmentionables, Mandy merely bumped them. Her face flushed and her thoughts swam, hopelessly embarrassed, as Billy's smile was replaced with an expression of utter surprise. She turned her head away. Curseword after curseword reverberated in her mind, but she clenched her teeth together and said nothing.

Billy, in a surprising show of tact, climbed off of her. Mandy sat up and turned away, her cheeks burning red but her chin tilted slightly upwards.

"Mandy-"

"That was supposed to be a kick," she said icily.

"D'aww, I'm sorry it didn't hurt," Billy said, his smile as wide and unregretful as a tuna-stuffed cat. "But it feels kinda funny, if that makes you feels any better. Ooh, lookat that big ole crusty black portal there. It's real pretty."

Mandy craned her head, and could just see the upper half of a velvety black oval. "The scythe," she said.

Her tone was _almost_ alarmed.

The two teens sprinted, all embarrassment forgotten, through the tall grass. The blue blades slapped Mandy in the face as she ran- they stung, but she didn't notice. Blood pounded in her ears, and she sprinted as hard as she could towards the portal, hearing nothing but her pulse and the wind, and- barely- a faint, idiotic giggle. _The scythe_, she thought, adrenaline rushing throughout her body. She bared her teeth as she ran, and, unbeknownst to her, a vein throbbed in her temple. The adrenaline did nothing but enrage her further.

She burst out into the shorter grass, and now that she could see more clearly, her gaze slid to the creator of the portal. A small, cute little creature with black skin turned its head towards her, and looked at her with a pair of huge blue eyes. Mandy didn't stop running. The thing-whatever it was- had the scythe. "That's _mine_," she snapped at it.

It blinked its eyes at her.

Mandy felt another surge, and ran even faster, wind whipping at her face and hair. She was closing in on it. Eight yards... seven... six...

It bent short, rather chubby legs and sprang up into the portal, scythe in hand. Blindly furious, Mandy took a flying leap and followed it into the matte black oval.

There was no need to run anymore. This portal was different from the swirling green ones that the scythe conjured; the blackness was thick, and almost suffocating. Rather than hurtling through time and space, as was usual, Mandy had the queasy sensation of slowly falling. She could barely move, let alone look around for the charming little scythe thief- and the realization that she might've left Billy behind hit her in the chest like an anvil. Concern for his well-being flooded her- in the darkness, her eyes opened wide in a rare display of emotion.

Eventually, the blackness- along with the feeling of being compressed- began to lift. "Oh, look, Greed!" cried a delighted male voice. "You brought a visitor. No- do my eyes deceive me?- TWO visitors!"

Mandy blinked, and as she did so, the room faded into focus. The first thing she noticed, on her hands and knees, was the carpet- lush, clean, and crimson, on a Medieval stone floor. Ignoring the comfort of it, Mandy sprang to her feet, taking in the rest of the room with one glance: red neon signs flaunting rude phrases were hung around the room, and several gore-spattered tapestries graced the black velvet walls. Crimson flames shot up from the floor every so often. Several gambling tables- roulette, poker, and others- were set up across the room. A red and black jukebox glowed invitingly in a corner, and near the huge mahogany door to the room, there was a troupe of scantily-clad girls that could not have been anything but whores. Mandy turned sharply to glare at whoever had spoken.

He almost made her glare falter.

A long, crimson face. A black cigar billowing greenish smoke. A thin black moustache.

A pair of shining black horns.

Mandy found herself face-to-face with a man who could only have been the Devil. And what he said to her next only seemed to confirm her suspicions.

"_Welcome to Hell!_" he roared heartily.

Mandy did not bother with an introduction. "Give me the scythe," she said coolly.

The Devil leaned in closer, stroking his small goatee and squinting at her thoughtfully. "Normally," he said, suddenly snapping back into an upright position, "I wouldn't."

"Mandy, what's going on?" whimpered a voice behind her. Mandy glanced back with relief- the idiot had managed to get here, after all. And, now that she knew he was safe, she went back to ignoring him.

"But," the Devil leaned in again, pinching Mandy's cheek with two long, red fingers, "you're evil. And I like that in a woman. Greed, come give the girl her little... emo... sharp thing back." He glanced back at Mandy, his eyes hollow but somehow glittering. They were black, and vicious. Mandy gazed into them with equal coldness. "You're a figurative she-devil. And only sixteen years old, hmm. Can you drive, Mandy?"

"He knows us!" yelled Billy. The fact that Mandy's face was so close to the ugly red man's gave him a queasy, distressed feeling inside.

"I don't need to drive," Mandy said, raising an eyebrow rather icily. "I have the Grim Reaper."

The Devil leaned back, letting go of her cheek; Mandy was grateful, for the area where his fingers were was starting to burn. "Grim!" he shouted, clapping his long-fingered hands together merrily. "The very reason I'm in business! People wouldn't come to Hell if they didn't die, you know. Those surface-dwellers think it's all doom and gloom down here, and not just another division of the Underworld. Pheh! You should hear 'em. 'WAHHH I'm in Hell! No, wait, this is great! Who runs this place, anyway?' Sickos and morons, every single one of them. They're great once they get over their stupidness, though. Speaking of which, I'm all set to play a game of strip-poker against Jack the Ripper in about, eh, five minutes here. You should watch, Mandy. You'd be fascinated."

"No," Mandy said. The cruelty in her tone matched his own, despite the fact that her voice shook slightly. "I wouldn't. Just let me have the scythe so I can take myself and my idiot out of here."

Blood-red sparks flew as the Devil scratched his goatee. "Oh Gree-eeed!"

Greed melted out of the shadows, the scythe glistening in its hands. It glared at Mandy chillingly. Mandy ignored it and, with some difficulty, wrenched the scythe from its grasp. As its hands lost contact with the weapon, it at last made some variety of noise: a low, ugly, guttural growl. Its eyes glittered spitefully.

Out from the shadows danced another cute little black creature. This one's eyes were of the same shape and size of the first, but were shining red rather than blue. Its little brow was furrowed. "Wrath!" the Devil cried joyfully. "Come to Daddy!"

Mandy caught on. Of course; it all made sense now... "_Those_ are two of the Seven Deadly Sins?" Mandy asked, unimpressed.

"Don't be too apathetic towards them, Mandy. They rule your life." The Devil beamed as Malice hopped nimbly up and sat on his shoulder. He tickled its chin. It glared at him. "Especially this one, here. It's sculpted that pretty brow of yours into a scowl ever since you were conceived. Oh, yes- conceived. Lust."

"That little thing does _not_ control me," Mandy said coldly. "_Nothing _controls me, you scrawny, pathetic excuse for a demon... I control myself, I'll control the world, and if you don't keep your stinky mouth shut, I'll control you as well, and make your life a new kind of Hell- a torturous, endless one, the pain of which you've never even dreamed could exist. Got it?"

"At least I'll be in my element," said the Devil, waving his hand dismissively and smiling. "Anyway, these things aren't the real Sins- just charming embodiments that I've created for my loverly pets. The real Sins exist only in the minds of humankind. And me. And it's up to you to tame them, or to give in to them and let them take power from you."

"Nothing takes power from me," Mandy spat. Her face was dangerously close to his, her glare matching his yellowed gaze for evil.

"Let them take power from you, and you may just end up the most powerful being in the Universe," the Devil said.

The words pierced Mandy. Partly, she knew, because they were true.

_True for most people, that is._

"No," Mandy said. Her tone contained a note of cold finality. "I don't need them to make me powerful. I'll do that myself."

"We'll see," the Devil replied with a greasy smile.

He kissed her.

This, at last, removed Mandy's habitual glare. The tongue flicking across her lip was forked, burning hot. A half-second went by, a second, nearly two seconds.

She drew back her fist and punched the Devil in his long, crooked nose. More sparks flew. A few landed on Mandy's face, singeing her flesh, but they were insignificant- the red-faced demon had finally backed away from her. "Interesting," he said, as if casually discussing the weather. "I didn't expect you to do that."

Mandy felt rage burn in her core. "I'm not like those shallow whores by the door. If you think-"

"They are shallow, aren't they?" the Devil interrupted. He snapped his long, red fingers, and with a bang, the girls by the door were frozen, turned to stone. Mandy paid them no mind. "You're too tough for sex, then, Mandy? Too tough for feelings?"

It took every bit of Mandy's willpower not to look at the corner, where Billy was sitting, picking his nose and watching them with a beatific expression on his face. "Indeed. How very astute of you," Mandy replied, her voice cold and caustic.

"Oh, that's super!" the Devil said happily, clapping his hands. Wrath slipped off his shoulder. "I suppose, then, that it wouldn't make any difference to you if I did _this_?" He snapped his fingers one last time. The banging noise was much closer this time.

Mandy's stomach plummeted. She didn't bother hiding her expression as she turned towards the corner where Billy was sitting, his finger still in his nose. His smile, his unsuspecting gaze, his ridiculous hat- all cold, hard granite.

Mandy's eyes widened, glittering wet. Her vision blurred. "Billy?"

"He makes a very ugly statue," the Devil said. For the first time, his tone was cold, lofty. "Or else, an exceedingly lovely gargoyle."

-GABM-

"Now, don't be so whiny," the Devil sneered. "You'll be over him in a few weeks- nay, by that time you'll see the error of your ways, and regret the disastrous decision you made in the first place. Once your weakness has been healed a thousandfold, you'll make a brilliant she-devil. Stay here and you have it made, Mandy. Go on, sit on the couch, and think about your terrible, terrible decision. I'll even give you a butler if you want to punish yourself."

The Devil exited, leaving Mandy to lay on the Victorian leather couch. Her thoughts swam wretchedly. The fury was there- but it was nothing compared to the other feeling: the hopelessness, the sheer loss that twisted inside her. A thousand memories swam around, one surfacing every once in a while, accompanying the pangs of hurt. Holding hands with him. Him kissing her forehead. Him giggling, him leaning in to kiss her for real, him holding her for no reason at all in the middle of a deserted dance floor. And his smile. So many times he'd leaned in, smiling sweetly, eyes just beginning to droop shut...

"The Master inseests zat you weer zees," said a high, snootish voice. "Unf eef you refuse, he says to force you to weer eet."

Mandy didn't bother to see who was there, let alone get up. She responded limply as she felt herself jerked into a sitting position. Someone tugged her dress off none-too-gently, the same someone pulling a different outfit over her head- a tighter, less comfortable outfit. Her chest was squished upwards, her waist made even smaller via a corset. A tiny leather skirt barely managed to contain her butt. "Wait a minute," she snapped, wiping her eyes. "I won't wear some smutty, hideous leather contraption."

"Ah, but you must, or go nakeed!"

"You're _my_ butler. You'll do as _I_ say," Mandy said, her eyes tearing up again. "Bring me the boy. He's in the corner of the casino."

"Zee stone one? But- he ees veery heevy-"

"Do as I say!" snarled Mandy. Tears fell from her eyes and dripped down the front of her leather dress. "Do it before I decide to jam a steak knife up your anus, you cretin."

"Veery weell, ma'am." The butler bowed out, to frightened to refuse, although he was already dead.

Mandy lay back down on the couch, leather on leather. She squinted her eyes shut and attempted to sleep.

-GABM-

"Heere he ees," said the butler, exhausted. Mandy sat up immediately and dragged what used to be Billy to the couchside. He _was_ heavy. But he was Billy. "Und my master deemands that you have zees, weeth zee humble request zat you keell yourself. But, meestress, I believe he was jokeeng. Ees hard to tell, yees?" The butler handed Mandy the scythe, offering her a weak smile. As Mandy accepted the scythe, power seemed to glow from it, sending a warm tingle up her arms.

Ignoring the butler, she pointed it at Billy. A faint hope crept into her chest. If it worked-

Zzzzap!

"You have turned heem to marble," the butler stated unhelpfully.

A lump arose in Mandy's throat. She swung the scythe around to point at the butler. "What's your name?" she said coldly.

"Weatherby," the butler said, his voice even higher with fear. His eyes bugged as he stared at the scythe. "Sebastian Heinz Weatherby."

"Weatherby, tell me if Hell affects the scythe's powers at all."

"I theenk not? Zee Deveel's powers are deeferent zan zee scythe's. Meestress, zat ees all I know. Let me go unharmed, I beeg of you."

Almost reluctantly, Mandy raised the scythe away from Weatherby. She turned to Billy's statue.

Zzzzap!

"Meestress, you have turned heem to glass. He ees getteeng more fragile every time you zap heem."

Mandy let go of the scythe. It clattered to the floor. Slowly, she found herself laying one hand atop the statue, where Billy's hat was. The glass was cold against her palm.

"Where does the Devil get his magic from?"

"Meestress, I do not know. Hey, he ees the Devil. He can do what he wants."

Mandy stared at the statue, tears of loss and frustration welling up. This time, however, she didn't let them fall. "If you help me recover Billy, I'll help you escape from Hell."

"You weell? Zat ees not posseeble. Eet has never been done before-"

Mandy glared at him.

"-but, zat is to say," Weatherby said, redirecting himself with a sheepish laugh, "no one has been adept enough to, wheech means you weell have a veery good chance!"

"Excellent," Mandy said coolly, picking the scythe up. She'd been wrong to give up hope in the first place, wrong to mourn, and very, very wrong to cry, as if a mere Devil could overpower her. Her glare was back now, and deeper than ever. "Weatherby."

"Yees?"

"Find out. Go."

Weatherby left. Mandy kneeled beside the glass statue, looking into its sweet, unseeing eyes.

**AN: One chapter with relatively little fluff opens the doors for so, so much more fluff later on... but shhh, I'm pro-choice and anti-spoiler!**

**Oh, and if you're gonna bitch about me adding the Devil, do so via a PM. Nobody wants your fiesty religious mania cluttering up my reviews page.**


	5. Of Subconscious Truths

**AN: I'm back from my vacation (Hey! I know who my dad is now!) and here's the stuff I wrote whilst I was away. Yes, yes, it's such a short chapter for three weeks' work or so- and it's all X-treme hardcore-ness, not much fluff or adult humor. :-( However, in a fruitless attempt to make up for this, I have added a not-so-subtle Harry Potter reference... if you find it and tell me what it is, I'll give you a bunny.**

Mandy pushed the glass statue behind her luxurious couch. Impertinent thoughts floated to the surface of her mind; thoughts that she might never see him again, that something would happen and he'd shatter into a million shards...

"Meestress-?"

"Come in," Mandy said, her heart pounding. Into the room snapped a rather cautious-looking Weatherby. "You better have found something out."

Weatherby's expression changed to something between pleasure and terror. "Eh, eet ees deeferent, than that, but I theenk you weell be pleased to know. Meestress Mandy- the Deveel orders you to accompany heem to the Hot Spreengs of Hell, weareeng thees." He held up another stringy black outfit, presumably a bathing suit, and glanced into her eyes.

Incredible, how a single unwavering look could communicate so many terrible thoughts.

Weatherby hastily began again, staring at the carpet. "You weell be spendeeng time weeth heem, talkeeng weeth heem, and I believe you weell be able to get much eenformation. I have, shall we say, looseened hees tongue a beet." The dregs of the butler's terror remained, but as he gazed at the floor, his lips formed a hopeful smirk.

-GABM-

Mandy sunk as low as she could into the bubbling spring. The liquid was red, and smelled of copper, and frothed at the edges- it was almost definitely blood, but she would rather be covered in blood than show off so much of herself.

"Dry eyed, I see," observed the Devil. He leered at Mandy. A few bubbles popped on her shoulder, leaving dark red circles. "Which means you're over your pet idiot."

Mandy bit back a scathing response.

"Or," Satan continued, his tone darker now, "it means you have a plan."

"I always have a plan," Mandy replied coldly, "but that doesn't mean I'm not also over him."

The Devil gave a blood-curdling, stalactite-shattering roar. It took Mandy a moment to realize that he was laughing. "Lighten up, doll!" he shouted.

Mandy's unimpressed glare remained fixed on her face, but she forced herself to allow him to place his hand on her thigh, a privilege reserved for...

Nobody, she reminded herself. No one had done that before. Every second his hand spent there burned into her dignity as well as her skin- but she choked her hatred down, and forced out words that she hoped, in the long run, would benefit her.

"Nice place you've got here."

"What, Hell? Yeah, I know. Some of the rugs could use a touch-up, and a few of my minions are a bit shy on the sugar when they bake my tea cakes, but all in all, it's nice. Very nice. You'll fit in well here, you know? Provided you use enough sugar, if you know what I mean." He slid his hand farther inwards. Mandy's heart thudded. It was obvious what he meant.

She jerked her leg away: there was no way he was getting that close, even for appearance's sake. More drunken laughter echoed about the chamber. Mandy's habitually cold heart froze over tenfold. "Your minions get punished for their lack of culinary expertise, I suppose."

"Wha... oh yeah. That. Yep, I can torture them past the threshold of physical pain. Magic-assisted, of course, and you should hear the screams! There's supposedly a limit, but I don't care what it is, and-"

"That's careless."

"Oh?"

Mandy chose her words swiftly and carefully. "If you don't know the limit of your magic, you may overextend it when you need it the most, leading to your death- or worse, your downfall.

"That's very perceptive for a little blonde girl! What else to you know, darling?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing at all?"

"Nothing at all."

There was a long silence. The blood bubbled lazily around them. Satan leered at Mandy, his eyes alight with a drunken, slightly maddened glow. Mandy stared implacably back.

"You're hiding something!" shrieked the Devil, standing up to point an accusatory finger at Mandy, who sat calmly in the pool of blood. "What aren't you telling me? You know more- _tell me_!"

Mandy resisted rolling her eyes. The intoxicated demon was playing into her hands perfectly- it was pathetic. She doubted there was any truth to his words; he was probably bluffing, trying to frighten her into talking.

"I can't figure anything out if I have no information," she grumbled. "You never even br- told me about your power source- and it's different, it must be, because the scythe wouldn't work... on Weatherby."

"That's top-secret information!"

"So is mine, then."

The Devil mumbled to himself, fuming and pacing, threads of steam escaping his bare skin. Mandy watched the gears in his brain turning, the cogs gummed up with alcohol. "We speak hypothetically," he decided finally, shooting Mandy a sly glance.

Too easy. Make him struggle more.

"I'll be able to figure it out as well, then," Mandy said coolly, "because you're drunk, and stupid, and powerless, and anything _you_ do I can outdo."

"Is that so?" the Devil said quietly. His tone became dangerously soft. The gentle, deceptive quality in his voice was anything but soothing, however, and Mandy forced away ominous feelings of regret. "Step up onto shore, then, and stare me down like a real demon. I dare you."

"Who am I to turn _that_ down," Mandy said dully. Slightly self-consciously, she stepped lightly onto the hot stone floor, facing her enemy. She glared into his eyes.

His pupils dilated. The color in them- purple and deep green and velvety black- swirled slowly, and Mandy stared indolently. Something died in the back of her mind- the feelings of anger, of humiliation, of loss all dissipated. Her midsection tingled happily. Soon the rest of her body followed suit.

And, after perhaps losing Billy forever, the numbness was welcome.

A sudden, sharp pain in the back of her head: she had fallen to the ground, and was laying face-up, her blank stare now coming to rest on the ceiling. Why was she on the ground? Beside her, the blood began a rolling boil, a fact that meant nothing to her ensnared mind. How did she end up on the ground? She had been pushed. The fact was there, but it was foggy, and insignificant.

"Outdo me? Outdo _me_, the _Devil_? Tsk tsk tsk. Arrogant. I don't see you manipulating my conscious mind and/or every single nerve in my body."

The Devil's words bounced meaninglessly off Mandy. She lay limply on the floor. A small gnat of a thought fluttered worriedly in her brain:

It was easy to ignore. Too easy. Mandy barely had wits enough to blink as the red-skinned figure loomed over her. "Can't say I'm sorry, dear," he chuckled, "seeing as you're not fighting it."

Something rustled. It was a slight sensation among all the numbness.

Then came horrible, blazing pain.

Just like that, the numbness broke. Mandy gave a sharp cry and struggled desperately, but it was as if her limbs were weighted down with lead. She could practically hear her flesh being torn up.

And she could absolutely feel it.

The powerlessness was unspeakable. She couldn't move, couldn't struggle, couldn't get away from the revolting, invading feeling. "Stop," she said, rather uselessly. She gritted her teeth; she wouldn't let herself cry. Not in front of him.

"You're not having fun? Here, I'll be kind and trigger a numbing, distracting hallucination or two..."

Mandy lay still. Everything was vague, but she'd escaped, and, despite the fact that the pain was still tearing at her, her surroundings- and the Devil- were gone.

A hallucination. She was laying on top of something soft and squishy: it was a down comforter, and it stretched on for miles, cushioning her as she lay naked atop it. A purring noise next to her revealed Billy's stupid cat, Milkshakes, who nudged Mandy's hand with a furry pink face. The pain intensified as Milkshakes mewled pathetically, wanting to be petted. "Get out of here, stupid," Mandy said, her vision darkening. The pain was awful. She wished she could bite on something.

Or even, perhaps, cry.

"Mew!"

"Get away from me," Mandy said to the cat, voice frigid.

Her surroundings darkened...

-GABM-

"Wow, Gladys! What do you make of this? Mandy just Apparated on top of our Christmas dinner for no apparent reason! Hey, she's naked. Speaking of which, where's Billy?"

The voice was all too familiar. "Billy's dad," Mandy said, her voice cracking when she attempted a perfect monotone. "I'm in pain. Help me."

"You heard our future daughter-in-law, Gladys! I'll just lift her off the table and-"

As Harold reached out to touch Mandy, a jolt went through his body. He stood still for a second, arms outstretched, face oddly blank.

And fell over backwards, dead.

Red flames erupted from where he had fallen, engulfing everything- the Christmas dinner, the floor, the walls, the table. Once again, darkness surrounded her.

-GABM-

"It's not Christmas is it? My dad'll kill me if I miss Christmas dinner. Anyways, I gots this picture I drew of my dream-house, and I wanted to tells you all about it, but I never did get the chance teh. So, there's a swing in front and the swing's been cryofreatnyessiositically engineered so that TWO peoples can sit on it- at the same time! Guess who I want to sit on it with?"

"Who, Billy?"

"You!" Billy replied, rather predictably. He grinned suddenly. "We're gonna have a great life, mmhmm. But Mandy, why are there bruises all over your hips?"

Pain slammed into Mandy over and over. She focused every ounce of her remaining energy into not crying, deepening her scowl as she concentrated. "Why aren't you made of glass anymore?"

"Iunno, ya know sometimes I just change molecular components ya know? You're all flickery ghost-like. No- don't leaves meh!"

"I'll come back," Mandy said, not at all sure if it were true. Blackness started to swirl around her again. She tried in vain to hold on to the moment for just a little bit longer.

"Wells, I trust yer fine, fine judgment," Billy said, grin reappearing. "But if I don't gets to come back to the happy-Endey-place, feed Milkshakes and tell my parents hiya for me. There's 49 cents buried under one-a my floorboards, in case of a real bad emergency. Oh, and Mandy-"

The cavern was reappearing around her.

"-I love you."

"Well, that about wraps that up!"

The cavern, the blood, the stalactites all faded back into focus. Billy was gone, replaced by a satisfied red face. The Devil got up easily, leaving Mandy to lay on the floor, hatred for him coursing through her. She wanted to stand up- to destroy him.

But she couldn't.

"Weather-by!" the Devil shouted in a singsong voice. "There's a little deflowered girl in here who needs some assistance! Amazing, how fragile the human body is."

Weatherby shuffled in, his skin graying somewhat as he lifted Mandy up. Her limbs dangled uselessly as the butler easily carried her back to her room, setting her gently on the couch. She felt her muscles quivering. "I never meant for eet to come to thees," he said quietly, dunking a cotton cloth into a bowl of glittering liquid. "I deed not weesh for heem to-"

"Don't take the blame," Mandy said sharply. "It was my fault- I can take the blame. And whatever consequences that come with it."

"I have never seen anyone so veery tough, een all my death. Ees eencredeeble."

Mandy didn't feel incredible. She was humiliated beyond belief, a feeling that doubled as Weatherby stooped to clean the torn flesh with his small cotton cloth. "What are you doing, stupid?" Mandy said. She tried to add conviction to her voice, but wound up sounding meek. And pathetic. Nor did she have the willpower to move at all.

"Helpeeng you," said Weatherby, sounding stung, "unless you _want_ an eenfection."

There was a long silence. Whatever substance the butler was using to disinfect also relieved some of the pain. Mandy slumped back, her will to do much of anything lost, her glare slackening into a slightly saddened expression.

"You want a blankeet? Eet ees as the Deveel said- humans are fragile."

Mandy's eyebrows raised in a rare expression of surprise. "Fragile. Get me a blanket, you worthless slave. Then hand me the scythe."

"I deed not mean to offend," Weatherby muttered as he bowed out of the room.

Mandy stared at the glass statue. Billy. It was more than exasperating: she could've saved him all along.

Weatherby came shuffling back quickly with a comfy satin blanket- Mandy hastily wrapped herself in it. There was no time to lose. The scythe was briskly handed to her, and a burst of hope erupted from her misery as she took aim at the glass figure. "Meestress!"

"Shut it, Sebastian." Mandy's heart slammed into her ribcage, over and over and over. The moment before she shot, she closed her eyes.

Zzzzap!

"Hey, how'd I get in this here posh joint? I mean, I bet they don't even serve applesauce cake with tar on the side! Darn Tories..._Mandy_! For some reason I'm colder than a box of rocks."

Mandy felt the scythe slide from her hands and clatter onto the floor. She shook the awestruck expression off her face. "Billy."

He hopped onto the couch, smiling. "Yepperduce, pink mongoose! Hey, what's wrong? Yer face is lookin' pretty sad there. Especially pretty. But... _especially _sad."

"Maybe I'll tell you when we get out of Hell."

Billy gulped. "We're _dead_?"

"Not yet."

Weatherby smiled and bowed himself out of the room.

He couldn't wait to return to the living.

**AN: "In other news... THE DEAD WALK THE EARTH!"**

**Name the movie that quote is from, and I'll totally take a B&M fanfiction request from you. :-)**

**Uh-oh, I don't have to change the rating 'cause of rape, do I? Nnnnnnah. I'm not going to.**


	6. Of Aftermath & Reluctance To Grow Up

**AN: Schwoooo, it's been a while. This chapter's a little longer than usual. Am I a creep? Yes, yes I am. Was that related? No, no it wasn't. Feel the love & enjoy the chapter!**

"So yer tellin' me," Billy said, "that I was turned into a giant rock mass chunk of rock by the big red guy?" A frown creased the idiot's brow momentarily. "I didn't like him very much, uh-uh."

Mandy swallowed. "Neither did I. And we're still stuck here."

"D'aw, small potatoes!" Billy grinned and climbed up onto the couch next to his friend. He grabbed her limp hand and rubbed it against his face. Her fingers were cold. "Uhhm, issat what you're so sad about? Don't be sad, Mandy."

Mandy jerked her hand away and set her habitual poker-faced glare up. "Quit your whining, stupid. I'm trying to think of some way to get you, me, and my stinking butler out of this dump."

"Yep, s'pretty gloomsy here, isn't it," Billy babbled. His smile was back in place. Something rustled in the back of his empty mind- something unsettled him about Mandy. However, his intelligence being too low to recognize what he felt, he moved on basic instinct, and enveloped her in a gentle, warming embrace. She stiffened but didn't move away. "That outfit makes you look real pretty. You should wear blankets more often, mmhmm... are you _positivioso_ that you're okay? I means, are ya _sure_? You can tells me anything. I promise to keep it a secret, forever and ever and a gazillion light years from now!"

Mandy wrapped her blanket tighter around herself. Physically, she wasn't cold; Billy was still hugging her softly. But she felt distracted and miserable. "I'm sick," she said coolly.

The half-truth did nothing to stop him from sitting with her. "But you're gonna be okay, right?" he said. His voice was much quieter now- the soft, worried tones were mumbled next to Mandy's ear. He buried his head in her shoulder, a silent invitation for her to do likewise (which, of course, she did not), and drew her in tightly.

Mandy was grateful. Close physical contact with her was one of the few things that kept Billy silent.

Nor did she really mind him hugging her, at least for the moment.

"Mandy?" Billy said, his breath tickling her ear. "We're gonna be able to escape here, right?"

"I told you before: I'm working on a plan."

"Why don't we fly out? Or drive a car with a radio in it? Yep, my dad gots this car, with a radio antenna! And when he presses a little button, the antenna unfoldifies. His antenna gets _real_ big when he wants reception."

"We're not using your dad's car, Billy."

"Ooh, do _you_ have a car with an antenna that unfolds? Can I press _your_ little button?"

"We're in Hell. We can't use a car at all," Mandy stated flatly.

"Nuts," Billy mumbled. The way he struggled and spluttered as he tried to think was quite pathetic, but he didn't release Mandy.

"We have to trick the Devil," Mandy said, ignoring the dread that built up as she spoke, "or find some way to tap into his magic. Maybe if that fool Weatherby could actually do what I asked him, we'd have a better chance of finding something ou- who's that?" She snapped suddenly into a shadowy corner, causing Billy to start violently. She felt his body jerk against her own. "Weatherby?"

The door behind Billy flew open. "You called, meess?" Weatherby said primly.

Mandy didn't take her eyes off the corner. "Something moved. It..." Her voice trailed off. Out from the shadows nimbly stepped one of the cute, black-skinned beings, this one with sparkling pink eyes. Its gaze held none of the hatred that Greed and Wrath had, and it emitted a high-pitched, tinkling laugh.

"Lust," Weatherby said, his tone apologetic. "Eet's laugheeng at you."

Mandy shoved Billy away roughly. Her hands found the smooth wooden handle of the scythe, and she lashed out with it suddenly.

Billy heard a familiar ringing noise as the scythe whipped through the air, saw something blurry whip out in front of Mandy- and all of a sudden, Lust had a huge, gaping wound in its side. Pink, glittery liquid sprayed from the gash. The creature let out a keening wail. "Think your master will save you?" Mandy said bitterly. Killing such a cute creature usually filled her with a sense of mild pleasure, but now, she only felt cold and angry. "He's had his fill of you today. And if you don't do what I say, I'm going to let you bleed to death."

Lust crooned sadly.

"Open up a portal that leads somewhere... other than Hell. Do it," Mandy said, leveling the scythe at its weakened form, "or die."

Lust lifted a frail arm and traced the pattern of a circle in the air. The circle faded into a black portal, like the one Greed had conjured, and Mandy turned to her friend. "Billy," she said. "Into the portal you go."

Billy looked frightened. He grasped her hand and held it up before his face, looking cross-eyed at it. "But what if I never sees y-"

"Shut up. Go."

Billy obeyed, glancing over his shoulder at her before stepping into the black hole. Mandy pushed away her own worries before nodding to Weatherby. "I've decided to keep my word," she said to him, her words layered with a sarcastic indulging tone. "Go ahead. And if I don't get there, you damn well better take care of Billy." She easily steeled her heart against Lust's coos, which were becoming steadily more pitiful. "He needs it," she added, as Weatherby nodded and gleefully hopped into the vortex.

Mandy stepped towards the hole. Lust looked up at her. Its eyes were hopeful, but dimming fast. "I told you I'd let you die if you didn't conjure this- but I never said what would happen if you did. There's lust enough in this place without you. You're not needed any longer."

Mandy stepped into the hole, before the dying Lust could register what had been said to it.

-GABM-

"Meestress! How may I express my grateetude?" Weatherby cried, as the portal spit Mandy out. He offered her his arm, but she refused it coldly and got up on her own. "We are een another luxurious place, but eet ees far from Hell. I am free!"

"You're free to leave. I'm tired. Get out," Mandy said. Weatherby grinned at her, tipped his comical little beret, and strode perkily out of the room.

"You gots dark under yer eyes," Billy said, perplexed. "Mandy, you look so stressed out- how about we goes to a fun park?"

"Oh no, you don't," Mandy snapped. She narrowed her eyes at him. "I'm exhausted. Look at this place- it's obviously a bedroom, and with a great big feather bed like that by my side, do you really think I'd pass up the chance to sleep for as long as I can?"

"Umm," Billy said blankly. He had lost track of her words after she'd said "don't" and was busy maintaining his nose, his mind clear of all thought. A smile sprang to his face. "I missed ya!"

Before Mandy could say another word, he had enveloped her in a gentle, happy hug. Her eyes widened for a second. He never ceased to surprise her. "Let's sleep together," Billy begged from out of the blue. "I'm sure I could work up a good sense of tired if I only tried, and I don't wanna stop hugging you. Evers."

She felt his words somehow worm their way through her icy defenses, as they always did, and warm her the tiniest bit. But- "Billy, I'm not wearing any clothes."

Billy grinned. "Okay by me!"

Mandy weighed her options- but it awfully hard to weigh fairly when Billy was looking at her, his sweet smile plastered all over his face. "I... don't watch me."

Billy covered his eyes as a child playing peek-a-boo would. Mandy waited until she was safely under the covers to unwrap the satin blanket and push it onto the floor beside the bed. "You can come in... I guess," Mandy said, feeling raw and rather embarrassed. "And, Billy," she said as the mattress shifted and he slid in beside her. She turned to him. He was watching her expectantly, still smiling.

"Forget it. You wouldn't try anything," Mandy said, searching his eyes. Her vision blurred. Hot, wet streaks dripped down her face.

"What? What'd I miss? What did I do?" Billy blurted, wiping her tears away with the back of his fingers. "Uh-ohs... I messed up again, didn't I? Don't cry, please _please_ don't. I'm sorry, Mandy. Shh. Please don't cry." He inched over to her and put his arms around her, miraculously ignoring the fact that she wasn't wearing anything. A growing wet spot began to form on Billy's shirt, which he also ignored. There was a long silence.

Billy miserably held her. He would have sooner died than made her cry, but here she was, tears silently sliding across her face and dampening his shirt. Other than his initial outburst, he said nothing- he was too afraid of upsetting her more. His heart pounded. Mandy never cried. There was some sort of hidden crisis going on.

"Okay," Mandy said, her voice steely. "I'm done."

"What did I do?" Billy asked. His tone was far more distraught than hers. A little sadly, he tightened his grip on her. The childish fear arose in his mind that she would somehow be taken from him.

"Surprisingly, it wasn't your fault," Mandy said. Billy's misery decreased by a hair. "I let my own emotions carry me off."

The answer did not satisfy Billy. "But you said something else."

"I meant that you'd never try anything inappropriate," Mandy replied. The tiniest grain of gentleness- or maybe it was exhaustion- crept into her voice.

"'Course I wouldn't!" Billy paused. "If you didn't want me ta."

Mandy shifted slightly. With a slight thrill, Billy realized that she had just moved closer to him.

-GABM-

Mandy woke up slowly. She felt very warm. It wasn't unpleasant at all.

Something pressed up against her forehead briefly- slobbery lips. Mandy sat up, her vision unfocused and groggy.

"Your-" Billy said. Then he stopped.

Too late, Mandy seized the blanket and covered her chest, fury bubbling up. "You looked, didn't you?" she snarled. "_Didn't you_?"

"I-"

"Shut up! Don't talk to me- in fact, don't look at me. Don't think- well, I won't have to worry about that. Get out." Her voice was icy. The atmosphere in the room clouded with rage. Slowly, making himself as small as he could, Billy slunk from the bed. He reminded Mandy of a dog that knew he'd done something bad- and how could he know he hadn't?

"I couldn't help it," he said, his voice small. He hung his head. Butterflies began to crawl inside him, and he miserably gripped his stomach. He turned away.

Mandy reached out slightly, then steeled herself and drew her hand back. Tempting as it was to comfort him... humiliation, anger, and pain hung over her like a storm cloud. And guilt. Billy was the only one who made her feel guilt, and she hated it. Guilt. She'd never felt it unless she'd wronged him... Mandy shook her head. She couldn't wrong him. She didn't owe him anything. _Good thing, seeing as you can't even offer your virginity anymore_, an unwanted thought piped up. Mandy pushed the thought away and ignored it. Love was too strong an expression... wasn't it? Friendship, maybe. They were just friends, that was all- and it was extraordinary that Mandy admitted even that.

"Billy, I..." she said. Her voice sounded strange; it was more hoarse, and had taken a softer quality. Something about it was almost... fragile.

Billy turned around. Gingerly, he sat down on the edge of the bed, looking at her carefully. She reached out- her arm felt weak. Billy reached out and caught her hand. "I don't feel very good," Mandy finished, her voice still lacking its edge.

Billy clenched her hand. "Feel better," he said. The air no longer crackled with anger- it was very tired, and something had broken. Billy sat by Mandy's side, and both the teens were still for a while, feeling slightly helpless. "Heyyy," Billy said, his voice breaking. "You're not okay after all."

Mandy looked at him. "Perceptive of you."

"Thanks you," he said, not catching the half-hearted sarcasm. "Are you sick? Is that it?"

Mandy struggled with the idea of telling him everything- part of her wanted to, just wanted some sort of relief, and part of her vehemently refused any assistance, especially from...

"Billy," Mandy said. Words drifted across her mind, but none of them seemed right. "Remember what you and Gorla did?" she started bluntly.

Billy wrung Mandy's hand, and she gritted her teeth to avoid shouting with pain. "Yeah," Billy said, his voice tense.

"Remember the Devil?"

"Yeah," Billy said, his face blankly expectant.

"Remember Lust?"

"What's 'lust'?"

"Do you know what rape is?"

"Nope!"

" 'Carnal knowledge of a woman without her consent,' " Mandy quoted. _As if that'll clear things up for him_, she thought. "Or of a man. In your case."

"In my what case? What you say? I don't get it," Billy said, his face contorted. Paying attention was difficult. Understanding was nearly impossible.

"Just listen to me, stupid. Rape is doing this-" Mandy pantomimed something rude with a loose fist and an index finger- "without wanting to."

A light bulb nearly appeared over Billy's head. "Ohhh, I gots it."

"And that's what happened to me."

"Me too!"

"Yeah."

Billy clung to her. _The purtiest teddy bear in the world_, he thought, his smile back. Moving on almost maternal instinct, he rocked her gently back and forth. "You gotta feel awful," he said, "'cause I did after that, too. But maybe not! We have different bodies!"

Mandy took the time Billy was distracted to find her dress. "Um, yeah," she said coolly as she pulled it over her head. "Get off of me, you buffoon. We're going home."

"But wait!" Billy cried, his voice taking on a daring Scottish brogue. "I must do something first!"

"Yes, let go of me," Mandy said, tone becoming more forceful.

"Nuh-uh!"

Mandy felt something wet and exceedingly slimy drag up her face. So powerful was the force of the lick that it stretched her skin upwards, pulling her lips into a half-grimace and forcing one of her eyes shut. Immediately afterwards, Billy released her completely. Mandy toppled onto the floor.

"_Ugh_," she snapped, wiping her face with the back of her hand. "You disgusting, piggish, foul-breathed, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid _insect_. How many times-" she stood up- "have I told you-" she glared him in the eye- "to never. _Ever_. Lick. My face?"

Billy grinned and tried counting them off on his fingers. When he reached the number ten, he simply went back to his first finger, and started over again at one. "Seven," he piped up proudly.

Mandy snarled and jumped at him. With a giggle and an _oof_, Billy found himself laying face-up, Mandy's knee in his chest. He stared into a terrifying glare. "You gots wide eyes!" Billy said cheerfully. "_Ouch_! Deehee." His kind words had gotten him a solid smack across the face, which he didn't seem to mind at all. His nose deflated slightly as a small, pale fist smashed into it.

"Fight back, you moron," Mandy growled, delivering another punch and blacking his eye.

Billy giggled again, shoving Mandy away rather easily, and grabbed a pillow. Feathers exploded into the air as he swung it at her. With an Amazonian effort, she wrested the now-useless pillow from Billy's grip. He looked at his empty hands for a minute. "Hey!" he said, lifting his head and giving her a confused look. Mandy cocked an eyebrow and slammed the pillow into his face. More feathers flew. Blindly, he reached out through the falling feathers and caught hold of something- Mandy's dress front. "Aha!" he cried, dragging her closer, then shoving her away so she fell backwards onto the mattress. "How d'you like _my_ apples?"

"It's '_them_ apples'," Mandy snapped, trying to get up. Billy leapt at her and pinned her down with a triumphant grin, bending his head down so he could blow a raspberry in her face.

"So _there_!" he said smugly.

"Get up."

"Never!" he cried. Pause. "Why?"

Mandy struggled vehemently. "Because I'm _always_ on top!" she burst out, frustrated with struggling and falling back onto the down comforter, which, by now, was also ripped in several places. She stared icily up into his idiot face. He didn't get up- in fact, as was usual, he didn't even seem to mind her glare.

"Nah," Billy said. "It's like... it's like a bowl of nachos!"

"Don't start," Mandy warned.

Billy seemed not to notice her. "I always suck on the ones on top," he continued unthinkingly, "and nibble a little bit in the middle, then I eat the ones on the bottom. They all taste like nice. Point is, the ones on the bottom are A-okay!"

Mandy twisted and struggled beneath him, trying to leave if only to save her pride. She scowled at him. "Off, before I do something terrible to you."

Billy hesitated. He had no idea why, but he liked where they were. Feathers floated around them, and the two teens were sunken in to the impressively destroyed down comforter, surrounded by warmth and white down. He smiled in her face.

Mandy looked up, past his gargantuan pink nose, and met his eyes. His hands were snug on her shoulders. A sweet expression set itself on his face- something that was almost a smile, but lacked its usual carelessness. He was being tender.

"I'm not a glass figure," Mandy said to him, glaring once again.

"I was!"

"...So stop treating me like one."

Billy took one of his hands from her shoulders to scratch his head. "You're not glass," he stated, puzzled. "Yer Mandy."

Mandy took the opportunity to shove him off and roll out from beneath him. "Yes, I'm Mandy, and I'm _not_ some fragile china doll that you have to be gentle with before she breaks," she reminded him coldly. "Stop treating me like some girly priceless vase. Remember when we were little, and you fought me like the rabid idiot you were?"

"But we're big now. I know because I can eat more chicken than I could ever be-"

"And I'm still not weak!" Mandy said, her temper flaring.

"-fore. Besides, yer my bestest friend even more now. You say somethin'?"

Mandy sat on the edge of the bed and slipped her shoes on. "Nothing has changed between then and now," she said, her tone dangerously quiet. "Remember that."

The memory of Billy smiling innocently, straddling her, with feathers floating down around the two of them, bubbled to the surface of her mind. Something in her stomach leapt and began to flutter around.

**AN: No lemon for you! Ha ha, you lose!**


End file.
